Tennessee&#8217;s annual sales tax exemption weekend sent consumers out in full force, turning back-to-school shopping sprees into a larger frenzy of deals.

Tennessee joined nine other states this weekend for an annual sales tax &#8220;holiday.&#8221; Purchases on most clothing and school supplies and some computer systems were spared the Volunteer State&#8217;s 7 percent sales tax.

Parking lots jammed with cars represented a sure-fire sign of the special deal authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly.

&#8220;There&#8217;s been a lot of effort in the last few weeks to get ready for the additional traffic,&#8221; said Rodney Harris, manager of the Best Buy on Gunbarrel Road. &#8220;All of my team has worked long hours, certainly Friday and Saturday.&#8221;

Consumers taking advantage of the deal have saved an average of $8 million to 10 million across the state in each of the program&#8217;s eight years, according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

Last-minute purchases for students heading off to local schools and colleges across the state and nation made the &#8220;maybe&#8221; purchases a &#8220;probably&#8221; opportunity.

The program lifts sales taxes on clothing items and school supplies less than $100. Computers can reap the most reward with a $1,500 price limit on eligibility. Consumers could save $135 at the maximum price.

&#8220;The advantage we have here in Tennessee is that we go up to $1,500 on a computer,&#8221; Harris said. &#8220;It only goes up to $1,000 in Georgia, and it&#8217;s only $750 in Alabama. What you&#8217;ll see is a lot of people taking advantage of those sales taxes.&#8221;

Down the road at Office Depot, Bonita Springs was simply looking for a replacement.